The present invention relates to the field of car wash equipment, and more particularly, to a car wash preparation station.
There are a variety of automatic car wash systems presently available. Typically, these systems include multiple, fixed high pressure spraying stations that are capable of cleaning the exterior surface of a vehicle with appropriate amounts of water under appropriate pressure and with cleaning chemicals as the vehicle passes by the spray stations.
Usually, certain areas of a vehicle's exterior can be significantly more dirty than others. For example, the front grill and the rear of the car, particularly near the rear fenders and back bumper, typically accumulate more dirt and grime than the top and sides of the car. Even with the most advanced car wash systems, those parts of the car sometimes might not become as clean as desired when passing through the systems.
To address this issue, most automated car wash systems are supplemented with a human attendant who manually scrubs or sprays off the dirtier areas of vehicles before the vehicle enters the automated car wash system. The preparation of the vehicle before it is actually washed in the automated portion of the system is time consuming for the attendant. This can be particularly problematic when there are multiple potential consumers at a car wash, and time is of the essence. Further, the spray apparatus may be cumbersome and difficult to handle for the attendants. For attendants that are of diminutive stature or lack strength, it can be an added burden.
Accordingly, there remains room for improvement with units or stations that prepare vehicles before they pass through an automated car wash system.